
I DIDN’T WANT A CAREGIVER—I WANTED MY OLD LIFE BACK
When the doctors told me I’d never walk again, I didn’t flinch. I just nodded, like they’d told me the weather was going to be cloudy. Paralysis. Clear skies with a chance of never walking again. I didn’t want pity. I didn’t want pep talks or inspiration. I just needed time to understand what it meant to lose something I’d always taken for granted. When the nurses offered me help, I refused right away.“I can manage,” I told them. But I was wrong. Cooking became dangerous. Bathing? Impossible. Dropping a